The failure of the Doha trade talks will doubtless have tough consequences for some parties. But it should not obscure the fact that there are other, non-tariff related barriers that are equally in need of scrutiny and reform, writes Courtney Fingar.

The bribery scandal currently plaguing Siemens may call into doubt the validity of a $217m World Bank arbitration award secured in 2007 by the German multinational in a major dispute with the government of Argentina.

Recognising the demand for business intelligence in a period of economic uncertainty, Financial Times Business has acquired two specialist FDI resources, which are now the centre point of our online offering, writes Courtney Fingar.

Stung by a series of high-profile FDI lawsuits, the government of Venezuela has responded with a plan to neutralise one of the more effective weapons in the foreign investor arsenal. In late April, Venezuela notified the Dutch government that it would terminate a 15-year-old investment protection treaty between the two nations.

Getting hold of the right information about a prospective investment market is no mean feat, and part of the problem lies with the agencies specifically set up to field such calls, writes Courtney Fingar.

Faced with political term limits, Mr Putin made a lateral move into the Russian prime minister’s office, also ensuring that his trusted ally Dimitry Medvedev stepped into the presidency. Will Mr Putin prove as adept at the judicial side-step? A series of international lawsuits are taking aim at his act of dismantling of the Yukos oil company and are threatening to hold the Russian Federation liable for billions of dollars in compensation. While Yukos shareholders have found little succour in the Russian courts, Russia has affixed its name to a string of international treaties which purport to protect foreign investment. It is these treaties that shareholders are now brandishing in a last-ditch challenge to what they view as an illegal nationalisation of their investments.

The knock-on effects of the subprime crisis have not yet reached the corporate sector. Its time will come, but at least it can console itself with some welcome relief from sky-high rents, writes Courtney Fingar.

The newly minted Argentine government of Christina Kirchner faces a tough choice already; will the government agree to pay what could amount to billions of dollars in compensation to foreign investors affected by the country’s financial crisis?

Tapping the likes of India and China as new sources of investment is a sensible enough strategy. Yet for all the excitement over the fast-expanding emerging-market companies, the US is still the largest outward investor by quite some distance, writes Courtney Fingar.

In a sharp rebuke to the World Bank’s investment arbitration facility, Bolivia has formally withdrawn from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Lawyers who represent foreign investors are now wondering if other South American governments will follow suit.

FDI may have changed its look but its commitment to providing first-class news, reports, commentary and interviews on international investment – from La Paz and Quebec to Addis Ababa and Hong Kong – is as strong as ever, writes Courtney Fingar.

Regular readers will notice something different about this issue: everything in fact. You will find that fDi magazine has an entirely new look, from cover to cover, and we think you will agree that it is a change for the better.

A Greek businessman’s fight with the Republic of Georgia over a thwarted pipeline project could have implications for a much larger legal battle being waged by the former owners of the Yukos Oil Corporation against the Russian Federation.

Legal challenges from the world of foreign direct investment. By Luke Peterson.

Legal challenges from the world of foreign direct investment. By Luke Peterson.

Legal challenges from the world of foreign direct investment. By Luke Peterson.

Legal challenges from the world of foreign direct investment. By Luke Peterson.